Nathaniel sat at the dining room table in the chair that Michael had vacated, and although Michael picked up on that fact right away, he did not allow it to linger. Michael knew how Nathaniel felt about his wife; he did not have to be told. It was the same thing he felt. However, he wasn't jealous anymore. In fact, he was thankful for knowing it because it would help him never take his wife for granted. He simply took another chair and sat down, then pointed at another chair beside Barbara and invited Mark to sit as well. He set the bundle down on the table.
Nathaniel watched the children. Jerod was still playing his PlayStation 2, but the room was in dim light now as Barbara had softened things up for their guests. The twins faced the dining room, Michael noticed. Following their gaze, he could almost detect a bit of a grin across Nathaniel’s face.
“Yes?” Nathaniel said softly. “I see you studying me, Michael.”
“You look happy.”
The vampire turned to face the man. “I am. You have a wonderful family, sir.”
“And I owe that to you.”
The cell phone in Michael’s left pants pocket began to vibrate.
Nathaniel seemed to want to shrug the notion off.
“It’s true,” Barbara added. She reached over and placed her left hand upon Nathaniel’s shoulder. “Thank you.”
The vampire said nothing further. He simply went back to watching the children at ease there in the living room. Earlier, he was not at all certain that this room would ever hold peace and happiness again.
Michael contemplated the name of the caller on the cell phone screen. He glanced at Barbara as he stood up and answered the call.
“Hello.”
“Is Vanessa here?” Jackson asked. “We went to the house first, but it doesn’t look like anyone’s been home since we escaped this morning.”
“Yes,” Barbara said, turning to face him. “She’s not well, Mark.”
“Does she know what I am? What I have become?”
“We have not talked about that,” she answered. “But, yes. I think she does.”
“May I see her?” It was Nathaniel who asked the question as he continued to watch the children. It caught everyone by surprise.
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea, Nathaniel.”
The vampire turned to face Barbara. “I understand.”
Yet, Nathaniel immediately stood up and headed off down the hallway.
Michael was in the middle of the kitchen, and also in the middle of a very interesting conversation. “I’m flattered, Katherine,” he said as he contemplated what she had just said to him. He was feeling mixed emotions. “I just don’t know.”
While he listened to the mayor deliver her sales pitch, Michael walked back to the mouth of the living room and stared at the couch. It was in a new location, parked directly in front of the sliding glass door. Its purpose, of course, was to hide what was left of the life of Chief O’Donnell. Barbara gave him a quizzical look. When he closed the cell phone and returned to the table, she got her answer.
“That was the mayor,” he said deliberately, composing himself. “You’re looking at the interim chief of police.”